Giving

I had a wonderful giving experience last weekend that reminded me about the real reason to do the Total Money Make Over. Sure, I want to retire with dignity, be debt-free, and accumulate some serious cash-ola. But none of those things replace the real joy from giving.

Our friend’s A/C unit died. It was a wall unit and was the only A/C source in the house. Have your only A/C unit die in the middle of a heat wave in Atlanta in July is a “code red” situation to most home-owners. But we knew that they didn’t have the funds to get a unit right away.

So my wife and I reviewed our situation and we had surplus money to give them despite being in our debt snow ball. We remembered that we’ve been the recipient of random giving when we really needed help. It just felt right to be able to reciprocate in a small way. Our friend was tearing up when I gave her the money and I started to tear up als0. Note to self: Next time you give, pretend to have a cold or something in your eye.

My dream is to be on Baby Step 7 and have a monthly budget line item that is simply “random giving”. Every month we will find people in need of that extra lift that sometimes really is all about a few extra bucks. And I can’t wait to provide it.